Researchers
in Germany have developed a cocktail of genes that help protect and rejuvenate
dopamine neurons whose destruction leads to Parkinson's disease. The studies
were done in mice and the work was presented at the American Neurological
Association's 125th annual meeting last week in Boston.

While researchers are not sure what triggers the death of dopamine neurons
in the substantia nigra, the brain region affected in Parkinson's, they
do know that proteins called caspases play a role. Jörg B. Schulz and
his colleagues at the University of Tübingen are using the XIAP gene (X-chromosomal
linked inhibitor of apoptosis), which inhibits caspases, and GDNF (glial
cell line-derived neurotrophic factor), which promotes the growth of neurons,
to save dopamine brain cells.

The researchers are using an adenovirus to encapsulate both genes and
carry them into dopamine neurons.

Schulz found that, together, both genes prevent the destruction of dopamine
neurons and allow them to continue to transport dopamine to the striatum,
a function essential for body movement.